Author

Date of Award:

Document Type:

Degree Name:

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department:

Engineering and Technology Education

Department name when degree awarded

Industrial and Technical Education

Advisor/Chair:

Neill C. Slack

Abstract

The purpose of this study was (1) to develop a guideline for cooperative education; (2) to determine the current status of cooperative vocational education in Utah; and (3) to compare current practices with the established guideline.

This study was completed in two parts. The first part involved the construction and verification of a guideline for cooperative education in Utah; the second, a survey of the current status of cooperative education. A descriptive survey technique was employed to gather data required for determination of the guideline's validity and relevance, and the current status of cooperative education in Utah.

All 13 key administrators in the state office, 75 coordinators representing 84 percent of the initial mailings and 112 cooperating employers or 74 percent of the selected sample participated in this study.

Opinions from the 13 key administrators in the Utah State Division of Vocational and Technical Education were largely in agreement with the tentative guideline derived from the two nationally accepted guides in cooperative education.

Due to the lack of an official guide for cooperative education in Utah, many of the coordinators' interpretations of federal legislation and state regulations were based on their own convenience. Inconsistencies in programs, standards and requirements were frequently found among cooperative programs in Utah.

There appear to be some discrepancies existing between the current practices and the established guideline mainly because in a majority of the programs: (1) students spend insufficient numbers of hours in attending school or receiving on- the-job training; (2) schools provide inadequate in-school instruction; and (3) students receive substandard on-the-job supervision.

Recommended Citation

Ku, George C., "An Analytical Study of the 1971-72 Cooperative Vocational Program in Utah With Comparison to a Guideline for Cooperative Vocational Programs" (1972). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 3341.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/3341